…not the Author of Confusion

Finishing up the series on The Gifts of the Holy Spirit, Brian summed things up nicely for us by pointing out the key word for each of the chapters–1 Corinthians 12 (body), 13 (love) and 14 (edify, bringing the other two together).

This last chapter was written because the Corinthians were so enamored with tongues, that they had to be taught: prophecy is preferred, because it builds others up, while tongues need interpretation in order to do that. However, right at the beginning Brian pointed out that BOTH are legitimate and desirable spiritual gifts for today. In fact, there has been some scientific study done on people speaking in tongues, where they saw that even though nothing was operating in the brain while this was happening–it was a definite language being used (though unknown).

Paul talks a lot about order vs confusion in this chapter. Because after all, it’s not as if you lose control. (1 Cor. 14:32) The summary verses are short and to the point: 1 Cor. 14:39-40. Way to clear up confusion, Paul! :)